City donates bit of land to allow plans for medical clinic to move forward

Wednesday

Aug 21, 2013 at 5:07 PM

The Adamses have earmarked their two lots off Northwest Seventh Street for the health clinic, but needed the small parcel of land to meet a zoning requirement.

By Susan Latham CarrStaff writer

Carolyn Adams raised her hands over her head with joy after the Ocala City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to waive development fees and donate a tiny piece of land on Ocala's west side that will allow the proposed Estella Byrd Whitman Wellness and Resource Center to go forward.

The 50-feet-wide by 200-feet-deep city-owned lot, which is assessed at $2,675, lies just west of land owned by Carolyn and Arthur Adams. The Adamses have earmarked their two lots off Northwest 7th Street for the health clinic, but needed the small parcel of land to meet the minimum 30,000-square-foot zoning requirement.

The property now needs to be rezoned to R-3, multi-family residential, and be granted a special exception. The City Council will introduce the rezoning ordinance on Sept. 3 and take final action on Sept. 17. A request will then go to the city's Board of Adjustment on Oct. 21 for consideration as a special exception.

The fee waivers will not exceed $5,000.

After expressing her thanks, Carolyn Adams said they have partnered with the Heart of Florida to develop the clinic. She said it is anticipated that more than 3,000 people will be seen at the facility in the first year.

The Adamses' dream of opening a health clinic to serve west Ocala's residents has had its ups and downs, with personal health issues slowing their progress, so the council's vote was a welcomed leap forward.

Others are helping as well.

SummerGlen has donated a modular building for the clinic.

“The building is more than adequate,” Arthur Adams told City Council members. “We feel that building alone will change everything around it.”

He said he and his wife have turned down donations in the past, when the clinic's future looked uncertain.

“It's now a reality,” he said.

In other business Tuesday, the City Council:

* Denied an ordinance to rezone property at the northwest corner of the intersection of Southeast 17th Street and Southeast 22nd Avenue that would allow two offices to be built. Neighbors in the area opposed the zoning change fearing additional traffic would impact their neighborhood.

* Approved the final shopping center plan for Pep Boys on .96 acres of land at 2170 N.E. 49th Court, just east of the Arby's restaurant off East Silver Springs Boulevard.

* Approved for staff to buy a synthetic ice rink with special taxing district funds. The rink will be used downtown during the holiday season. The total start-up cost, which includes the rink, a skate sharpener kit and a shed for skate house, is $38,241.

* Set the date for the International Association of Firefighters Local 2135 impasse hearing for noon Sept. 30.